UK’s ‘Three Musketeers’ get life sentences for terror plot

LONDON, UK — A British judge has sentenced three men to life in prison and a fourth to at least 15 years for planning a knife and bomb attack inspired by Islamic extremism.

Naweed Ali, 29, Khobaib Hussain, 25, Mohibur Rahman, 33, and Tahir Aziz, 38, were convicted of preparing terrorist acts after a trial that was partly held in secret for national security reasons.

Ali, Hussain and Rahman, who dubbed themselves the “Three Musketeers,” were arrested last year after weapons were found in Ali’s car, including a partial pipe bomb and a meat cleaver with “kaffir” — infidel in Arabic — on the blade. Aziz was brought into the plot in its later stages. Prosecutors say the men intended to attack police or military targets.

Judge Henry Globe on Thursday sentenced Ali, Hussain and Rahman to life with no chance of parole for 20 years. Aziz got at least 15 years.

A composite of four undated images issued Wednesday August 2, 2017, by Britain’s West-Midlands Police, showing left to right: Tahir Aziz, Naweed Ali, Mohibur Rahman and Khobaib Hussain who have been found guilty of preparing terrorist acts, following a partly-secret trial at the Old Bailey in London Wednesday Aug. 2, 2017. (West Midlands Police via AP)

Ali, Hussain and Rahman met while serving prison terms for terrorism offenses, prosecutors said. They later set up a group called the “Three Musketeers” on a messaging app.

As they planned an attack, the men were under surveillance by Britain’s domestic intelligence service, MI5, which created a fake courier company in the central England city of Birmingham and hired Hussein and Ali.

The defendants, who were convicted on Wednesday, denied the charges and accused police of planting evidence. As they were led from the dock after conviction, one shouted: “I hope you’re happy with your lies! Lying scumbags.”